Customer Reviews

 
Amy G. from TN wrote the following on 11/01/2006:
We have used Saxon levels K-2; using Math 2 for 1st grade last year at the recommendation of a classical education company. My daughter learned a great wealth of information and several math tricks to help her remember ways to solve problems. She also learned good information about calendars, graphing, shapes, skip counting, measurement, and temperature. Saxon may be slower moving than other math programs in many ways (much slower in multiple digit addition and subtraction and place value), but the shape and number pattern exercises were much more challenging than other programs I've seen at this grade level. For example, Saxon would say something like, "finish the pattern: 59, 57, 53, 51, ___, ___, ___" and not tell you how. The children just have to read the numbers and find the pattern. Another program similar to Saxon would say, "Fill in the missing numbers by counting by 3's: 3, 6, 9, ___, ___, ___, ___." So with patterns, there is a bit more brainwork required from the student. The program is very easy to use; very little preparation time required. The first page of each lesson tells you what to prepare the night before or in the morning, and the materials you'll need. The teacher's manual is absolutely necessary and the scripted lessons are a big time saver, especially if you are a new teacher or if you lack confidence in your ability to say the right words during your lessons. With Saxon, the Meeting (done at the beginning of each lesson) is a good time for multiple ages (a.k.a. younger siblings) to listen in on, as they can pick up on some good information dealing with calendar, graphs, weather, etc....and the Meeting is easy to modify to use with different ages. The second part of the lesson was easier for me to do just with my 1st grader alone. Saxon is great for hands-on learners who like to move slowly in learning new things. It is extremely repetitive, which can be both a blessing and a curse. This math program will not allow you to forget anything. From one year to the next, there are a lot of lessons that slowly review what was learned the previous year. Some children love that repetition and others say, "I already know that! Why do I have to do this again?" So for a child who is quick at math, I would say this program might be frustrating in some ways; however, if the teacher can speed up the pace a bit and skip some of the busy work, it is a very thorough math curriculum which provides a solid foundation in math. The expense of the product is worth the cost if you value having your lessons planned and scripted for you, especially if you plan to use it with several children. If you do not like reading from a script when doing your schooling, a different math curriculum (such as Horizons) would probably be a better value for you.

 
Sonya T. from AL wrote the following on 07/05/2007:
I have used both Saxon 2 and 3 with my two sons and love it. The teacher's role is clearly defined for each lesson. You simple say what the book tells you to say. If you look at the next day's lesson, all planning is clearly defined so your child is not left hanging as you gather the required materials for the lesson. Having used this program with two completely different learning styles, I can honestly say it works for the advanced learner, and the kinesthetic learner. If a lesson was something my child had already mastered, I simply skipped it and moved on. I also individualized the Daily Meetings to their own needs. If counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's was too easy, I would let them count by two numbers they were comfortable with, then add in a new count. By the end of the year we were only doing multiplication counts, as they both mastered telling time and the calendar. We did, however, continue the Meeting Sheet all the way through to the end of the year. The book is simply a guide and you have the ability to change it around to best meet the needs of your child. One bonus of using this with two children close in age - my youngest is very familiar now with the 3rd Grade work, as he was exposed to it daily last year. I love this program and will continue to use it with the boys.

 
Lani H. from Altamonte Springs, Fl. wrote the following on 01/21/2008:
What an exciting year it has been! Our daughter was coming fresh out of kindergarten and forward into the 1st grade. Her school uses Saxon 2 for 1st grade and I was extremely apprehensive about using a curriculum I had never used or heard of before. Especially when we never even looked at Saxon 1 curriculum. My fears and questions quickly vanished as soon as I received our Saxon 2 curriculum through Rainbow Resource Center. The Teacher's manual had step by step instructions which is what I needed. It was extremely easy to follow. I never got lost in direction or instruction. The confidence the Teacher's manual gave me transferred to our daughter. Saxon 2 curriculum eased our daughter into Math. The repetition of the subjects gave our daughter time to learn and assurance in her learning. Where math was her weakest subject it is now one of her strongest. Our daughter loves Saxon. To our family there is no other product that could compare to the Saxon 2 curriculum. It is absolutely the best curriculum for math out there. Rainbow Resource Center gave us a very inexpensive product with great value compared to others. The value was not only in he cost of the product but was present in the smile on my daughter's face everyday when we used Saxon 2 math. Saxon makes learning math fun. Thank you Rainbow Resource Center!

 
Angela K. from Pittsburgh, PA wrote the following on 02/18/2008:
After using the Phonics I had to use the math. Just like the Phonics program I was very pleased with this one also. Very hands on which was a plus for my little guy. My 5 year old likes to join in on some of the lessons too. Saxon seems to have a way of making things very easy to understand. For example I like the idea of using money to teach place value and addition. Too bad Saxon hasn’t made curriculum in other subjects.